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LB recruiter - one you submitted with months ago
HI recruiter - one you submitted with a few days ago

1. If LB submitted you a few months ago with the same company that has this
opening, they could argue this is a continuation. Not necessarily true, but
they can justify it that way. did you submit for the other job at this low
rate back then? That would explain how they came up with a rate for you when
they didn't talk to you. In their eyes, HI is the second submitter.

2. Double submittals in many places automatically kick you out.
Unfortunately, many get double submitted without knowing it. many shops
won't tell you who the client is, so you can know, but often it isn't hard
to figure out. For example, if you are going to submit for a job on radios
in Cedar Rapids, it is the old Collins Radio, now Rockwell Collins I think.
easy to know if each caller is for the same place. But you have a medical
place in some larger cities, it could be one of a dozen, although if all the
calls come in at once, it is usually the same place since it isn't likely
they all decided to bring someone in on the same day.

When I find anyone double submitting me, I drop them and spread the word so
others avoid them.

3. Submitting you without your consent seems to occur more often now. Many
of the off shore shops seem to think if you talk to them, or even just post
a resume online somewhere, you are available. Apparently, the culture of job
hunting is different for them. If you have yours visible online, then you
are available, so they submit. They are also used to people not arguing or
negotiating rates, just accepting the rate since if they don't, there are
5,000 who will.

Unfortunately, Monster and CareerBuilder used to have a method that let you
post a resume and then have it marked as looking, not looking, and something
else, so you didn't have to remove it if you didn't want to be bothered by
job calls. The last many times I have updated mine on them, it was either
visible to everyone or visible only to employers, or you removed it. No way
to just post and hide from public viewing.

I always stand for my principles. I submit in the first few callers with the
best rate, or the first caller if the others are a few days later. Then I
don't double submit.

I always negotiate the rate with each caller, rather than just listen to
them. I ask. If they say $yy, I tell them I can't work for that and I need
$xx. I know they say "the client will only authorize us to pay $yy per hour"
but that is a lie. The client doesn't dictate how much the shop pays you.
They have no idea. They only know what they pay the shop.

And there is always room. For a long time, the shop paid you anywhere from
50% to 75% of what they got paid, and usually it was around 66%. So if they
pay you $40, they are billing $60 and that isn't 50 cents profit.

I know it gets frustrating, but hang in there. It was better before the off
shore shops began calling. They actually tried to get you the job. The off
shore ones go strictly for volume. Two seconds, you want the job? Good, we
submit. No?, "click".

I stay W2, also. It saves a lot of hassle, especially with an audit. There
is no question you are not an employee of the client. Your employer is not
reimbursing anything, as they are probably lucky to make payroll, so
everything becomes your write-off.

Tuesday, a large local corporation posted a requirement for a contract
role. I've worked for them in the past. Whenever they post a
requirement, I get calls and emails from agencies all over the country.
I press each one of them to give me their best W-2 rate for the role
because from my perspective there's no difference in which of the
agencies I worked for. So after a long day of fielding phone calls and
emails, I chose the agency that quoted me the best rate... gave them the
current resume and a right-to-represent statement.

So, today, I get an email from another agency that they've submitted me
for the role and I've been shortlisted for the assignment AT A LOWER
RATE. I can expect to be asked to interview for the assignment.

Turns out that the I had worked with the recruiter who submitted me a
couple months ago and agreed to allow his firm to submit me for a
different role (identified by a specific requisition ID). I did not give
his firm a blank check right-to-represent... just the right to represent
me for the previous assignment. This recruiter committed a serious
breach of ethics. I called him and read him the riot act then made him
transfer me to his supervisor (the account manager). I read him the riot
act as well.

I really don't want to work for this agency... however, I'm afraid that
there's no way I can back myself out of this situation without losing
the opportunity to work for the client. I need the job... I need the
money. The account manager is doing his best to mollify me, including
offering me a much higher rate (basically, he tells me that they'll only
make maybe 50¢ per hour on me). He's also telling me that in order for
this to happen, I'll have to provide his company with a
right-to-represent agreement.

I told him that was all well and good but what about the other agency...
the one I originally agreed to allow to submit me for this role. This is
one of those large corporations where they do not permit
double-submissions. I'm going to call the original agency and explain
exactly what happened. There are a couple things that could happen. The
original agency could ask me to have the unethical agency pull their
submission of me or they could release me but then file a lawsuit
against the unethical agency or they could release me but file a
complaint with the master agency that all the smaller agencies have to
go through.